Semper Fidelis

U.S. Marines Fighter Jet Crashes Near Air Base In England

A Marines F/A-18 fighter jet similar to this one has crashed near Cambridge, England. This file photo from the U.S. Navy shows an F/A-18C Hornet on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush. MC3 Lorelei Vander Griend/U.S. Navy hide caption

itoggle caption MC3 Lorelei Vander Griend/U.S. Navy

A Marines F/A-18 fighter jet similar to this one has crashed near Cambridge, England. This file photo from the U.S. Navy shows an F/A-18C Hornet on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush.

MC3 Lorelei Vander Griend/U.S. Navy

A U.S. Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet crashed northeast of Cambridge, England, Wednesday morning; officials say the pilot did not survive the crash. The plane had taken off from RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk.

“Response efforts are under way and the incident is currently under investigation,” the Marine Corps says.

Update at 1:30 p.m. ET: Details On Plane And Flight

The crashed plane belongs to the Marine Attack Fighter Squadron 232 stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, according to a U.S. Air Force statement issued from the Lakenheath base.

“The aircraft was transiting from Bahrain to Miramar in a flight of six aircraft when it crashed approximately six miles northwest of the airfield,” the statement says. “The remaining five F/A-18C’s safely diverted to RAF Lossiemouth.”

The message concluded, “Our deepest condolences go out to the family and friends of the pilot. The cause of the crash is still unknown.”

A fighter jet that took off from RAF Lakenheath airbase crashed in a rural area west of the base, near the town of Ely. The area is about 80 miles north-northeast of London. Google Maps hide caption

itoggle caption Google Maps

A fighter jet that took off from RAF Lakenheath airbase crashed in a rural area west of the base, near the town of Ely. The area is about 80 miles north-northeast of London.

Google Maps

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According to aviation website Airlive, the fighter was one of several F/A-18s that had recently arrived at Lakenheath and were on their way back to the U.S. after being deployed in the Middle East.

The site also says that the jet’s pilot ejected from the craft, but did not survive. Witnesses are telling local media that they saw a parachute in the sky.

The crash occurred in a rural area near the town of Ely, in a region that’s dominated by farmland.

The area is close to two air bases that are only a few miles apart; despite their official designation as RAF air stations, both serve as hosts to U.S. Air Force units. RAF Lakenheath is home to the F-15s of the 48th Fighter Wing; RAF Mildenhall houses the 100th Air Refueling Wing.

A witness who spoke to Cambridge News, Patrick Turner, 72, of Redmere, described the crash, which happened before 11 a.m. local time:

“I was outside in my shed and heard an aircraft coming over. All of a sudden all hell broke loose. The noise was terrible – I’ve never heard that before. I looked up to the sky but it was so foggy that I couldn’t see anything.”

Turner lives across a field from the crash site, where he says he then saw a “massive fireball.”

Another witness, Karen Miles-Holdaway, 48, tells the newspaper, “I was in my garden when I saw the plane going over. It was much lower than they usually fly at. I have so much praise for the pilot as I have heard he didn’t make it. He took the plane away from the houses which was brilliant. We are just very grateful to him.”